2021 President's Medalist: Jacqueline Maricela Figueroa

Each year, Denison chooses a select few to receive recognition as a President’s Medalist, Denison’s highest student honor. The preeminent criterion for receipt of a President’s Medal, established in 1985, is academic achievement. In addition, candidates must embody some combination of the following: service to the community, contribution to the arts, enlargement of the community’s global perspective, athletic fitness and achievement, leadership ability and contribution to community discourse.

Jacqueline Maricela Figueroa: political science and anthropology/sociology double major, was selected as a 2021 President’s Medalist. Her citation reads:

Your nominators said, “if we had the magical power to conjure a human being that exemplified Denison’s mission statement, that person would be Jackie.” They tell us that your input and contributions stand out “with their insightfulness, clarity, and depth.” You not only master your course material, you help your peers understand better what the class is engaged in, and add to every discussion of which you are a part. This is a gift that you have made use of on campus, and also in your work extending the campus reach through service as a research assistant which takes the Denison experience beyond the traditional classroom. Your summer work in Columbus took knowledge and understandings you have gained and refined here on the hill and carried them into significant impacts in our neighboring communities, even through the uncertainty of a pandemic period of operation. You have been lead executive team member for Sisters in Dialogue here on campus, growing from membership to leadership into mentorship of new leaders in that organization, imparting momentum both to the group and its goals of supporting campus diversity and student success.